Using Your Dreams

Do You Dream

Tony Crisp

Chapter Eleven

From all the dreams and information that have already been dealt with, an enormous number of conclusions can be drawn. It is hoped that many of these do not need to be enlarged upon; but because it may not be clear from what has been said, the subject of purposeful use of dreams will be explained in greater detail. For instance, it was mentioned at the very beginning that dreams have helped such varied fields of research and expression as science, literature, philosophy, psychology, and so on. It has to be admitted that most dreams that have given such service have been spontaneous, and often unsought, but in a few cases people have purposely set out to gain information from dreams that they could not easily get in waking consciousness. Businessmen, scientists, laymen, and doctors, have each looked to the dream for help in their various enquiries. In some cases they did not understand the process of dreaming, and so were handicapped. Others had gained an understanding by analysing previous experience, and were better able to use dreams as tools in their research. How this is possible must be reasonably clear from the other chapters. The dream emerges as an expression of what is happening in all the departments of our being. The unconscious biological processes that have made us a living being – the physical and energetic processes of our body, with its digestion, circulation, metabolism, etc. – the relationships between different parts of our being, such as body and mind, sexual and ambitious drives, self and others, all are dealt with in dreams. Likewise, all that we have ever experienced, read, thought, studied, heard or seen, is all stored in the complete memory of our unconscious. Nothing is lost. This vast storehouse of learning and experience, coupled with the wisdom latent in our very cells, built in from millions of years of life experience, are all available to the dream.

A later chapter will show that we are not limited even to our own vast memory, but can pick up thoughts from others through telepathy or expanded consciousness. Therefore, to have a question answered by a dream, is to receive a reply from the most advanced and best educated computer in the world. Even a new-born babe can rely upon the biological knowledge of its cells, which open to it, as instinct and intuitive response, the wisdom of the ages.

The examples of Robert Louis Stevenson gaining ideas for his writings, Kekule discovering the Benzene ring, the dreaming of Kubla Khan, and the dream foretelling the nationalisation of Iranian oil, illustrate a little of this. Another example is quoted in Dreams, The Language of the Unconscious by Hugh Lynn Cayce. The dream occurred to a member of the New York Stock Exchange, on March 5th. 1929. He says, ‘Dreamed we should sell all our stocks including box stock (one considered very good). I saw a bull following my wife, who was dressed in red.’ This dream was interpreted to mean that a crisis was approaching on the stock market, and all should be sold. Unfortunately the man did not heed this advice, and suffered the collapse of the stock market six months later.

Boccaccio, in his Life Of Dante, gives details of a dream had by Jacopo, a son of Dante. After Dante’s death, it was discovered that the last thirteen cantos of the ‘Commedia’ were missing. This caused much debate as to whether they had been written, and all involved searched everywhere. Jacopo and his brother Piero were induced by others to try their hand at writing the missing cantos themselves, but before doing so Jacopo dreamt that ‘his father Dante had appeared to him, clothed in the purest white, and his face resplendent with an extraordinary light; Jacopo asked him if he lived, and Dante replied, “Yes, but in the true life, not your life.” Then Jacopo asked him if he had completed his work before passing into the true life; and if he had done so, what had become of that part which was missing, as none could find it. To this Dante seemed to answer: “Yes, I finished it”, and then took Jacopo by the hand and led him into that chamber Dante had been accustomed to sleep in when he was alive. Touching one of the walls, he said, “What you have sought so much is here.” Then Jacopo awoke and although still night, called upon a friend, who went with him to Dante’s old house. Waking the present owner, they were allowed in, and on coming to the bedroom and looking at the wall indicated in the dream ‘found a mat fixed to the wall. They lifted it gently up, when they found a little window in the wall, never before seen by any of them. In it they discovered several writings, all mouldy from the dampness of the walls,’ and found them to be the missing cantos.

It can be argued, of course, that Jacopo must have noticed the mat before, even if he had never seen beneath it. Therefore it could possibly have concealed a hiding place; but what is important is not the question of whether or not he had seen this, but the fact that he had not consciously thought of it as the hiding place. Even if he had considered it as a hiding place and forgotten it with the passage of time, the dream still presented him with a new combination of ideas – the mat and the cantos. If this is the limit of dream perception, and I am not agreeing that it is, then it still puts the dream in the position of a competent computer. It still shows it as having entrance to our complete memory, and seeking deductive answers from it.

Having admitted this much, we are still faced by a problem, namely, how can we get the dream life to respond to a particular question? Suppose we are a scientist researching on cancer cure, or an archaeologist searching for an elusive clue in his studies, or a philosopher seeking to understand life; or just you or me trying to understand how best to use our abilities; how can we go about finding an answer to our problem? The two dreams quoted already help us towards an answer, even though they are not induced dreams in the sense that we are seeking. They help us because they are induced dreams in a different sense. They are induced by the dreamer’s interests. For the one dream is by a stock broker who recorded and attempted to analyse his dreams. The dream is induced because his interests in life are deeply bound up with the stock exchange. While Jacopo’s dream was induced by the search and by others urging him to finish the cantos.

From just these two dreams we can see that a dream response can be induced by being emotionally and intellectually involved in the question or problem answered. Therefore, if we are going to ask a specific question, it will have a greater likelihood of producing a helpful dream if we become as involved as possible in it. A person I once met had a mother much given to the study and practice of positive thinking. The man wished to take his wife for a holiday abroad, but did not have and could see no possibility of getting sufficient funds to finance this. His mother persuaded him to live positively, however, and told him to plan his holiday anyway. This he did, arranging all details. As time drew near he still did not have sufficient money, and began to get somewhat apprehensive as to how he was going to pay fares and hotel costs. This situation lasted right up to a week before the holiday began. Then he had a dream of a particular horse winning a race. Searching through the papers the following morning he found such a horse by the same name, and bet on it, which was something he never usually did. The horse won, and he had his holiday.

I mention this because here we see the man not only intellectually and emotionally involved to a large degree, but also financially as well. These really are the ideal conditions to provoke a dream to answer our question or problem. I have used this method myself with some success, one dream being a direct answer to a direct question. At the time of the dream I had been researching on the psychological effects of Yoga exercises or postures. I practised the postures and tried as far as was possible to discover consciously what they did to the emotions, instincts and mind. I then asked myself, just before going to sleep, if there were inner effects I was unconscious of. If so, what were they? In this way I hoped to induce a helpful dream. In fact, I had several, but one in particular helped a great deal. In it I was on an underground train. Two black men were standing in the aisle. The train was nearing my station and I passed them to get to the door. One would not stand aside, even after I said ‘Excuse me’, so I had to push past him. This annoyed him so much that he rushed at me with hands extended to strangle me, but I caught his hands in mine, and gradually forced them down from my throat. As I did so, I thought: ‘This is what Yoga has done’ (i.e. given me the strength to stand against the black man).

The meaning of this dream is not readily understood until it is realised that these black men had appeared in other dreams. In one. he got my throat and began to strangle me, and I could do nothing, but awoke in terror. Here we see the unconscious or black parts of my nature which I associated with my instinctive drives and fears, throttling my conscious life. The second dream is therefore saying that Yoga was developing the strength to face and deal with one’s unconscious fears and repressed urges. There is still a conflict, but at least my conscious self can meet its fears on equal terms, which is a very great part of the battle.

Becoming involved in a question is not all there is to inducing informative dreams. Earlier on I suggested that a baby, even though new born, can draw upon its biological past, the result of which is instinct, but the baby cannot ask the same sort of question as we do. Its questions are all associated with survival, feeding, sleeping, relating to its mother, and so on. Even if it could ask a more intellectual question, such as, ‘How can one make a better mousetrap?’ any dream that did give an answer would be quite incomprehensible to the baby. In short, while our dream producing mechanism may have entrance to infinite wisdom and resources, it nevertheless has the problem of explaining it to a very limited intelligence – namely us! In other words, we cannot ask a question that is beyond our present comprehension. If we did get an answer it would be meaningless. The question and answer are all bound up in each other. Dr Washington Carver, in seeking inner intuitive answers to scientific questions, had the same problem. He had before him the task of synthesising various products such as milk, glue, printer’s ink and oils, from peanuts and sweet potatoes. He had to modify his questions, however, to get understandable replies.

This faces us with fresh information as to how we must approach the effort to induce dreams. First of all we have to exhaust the limits of our conscious research into the question. We should read about it, study it, experiment with it, becoming involved as deeply as possible. If an answer to our problem is not forthcoming from these conscious efforts, then we have to realise that what we seek does not lie in the known areas of our knowledge. With the present information at our disposal, we are not able to arrive at a solution. Most breakthroughs in knowledge or understanding, however, are not explainable with the old facts. So we have to let go of our present conclusions, opinions, concepts and feelings, and admit that these present aspects of ourselves do not appear to hold the solution. Or if they do, we cannot see it. Then we have to sleep on it and watch our dreams.

The result of this might be that:

(a) We have no noticeable response at all.

(b) We have only a partial reply to our question.

(c) We have an amazing dream that reveals the answer.

If there seems to be no response, we have to keep trying, and record any dreams that occur. It might be that the dreams are not properly understood, or else we are more deeply involved in some other issue. If the reply is partial, then further dreams may enlarge upon it. It may be that a total reply would be beyond our present comprehension. This is very noticeable when watching a dream series. As it proceeds, and one has gained understanding of the broad outlines of something being revealed, the dreams begin to portray greater detail, which is understandable in the light of what has been learnt; or else our attitudes and concepts are so fixed in one direction of approach, that we have to be gradually led and introduced to new areas. Then the subject proper can be introduced. In this way, a researcher into the problem of migraine headaches might be directing his experiments along the line of a particular type of chemical, but the dream might hold information dealing with it under a physiological approach. Therefore a change of attitude would have to exist at the very start of gaining what the dream holds in store. We have to be willing to let ourselves be educated by the dream. This can take a long time; but then so does any research, for we need to grow in understanding and ability to the point where we can comprehend and make use of what we are seeking. Leonardo de Vinci designed the helicopter, the submarine and the bicycle chain, but it took technology three hundred years to be able to apply this man’s ‘dreams’.

Some of those whose insight into the hidden process of human life amount to genius, have claimed that intuition is based upon vast experience or education. This education or experience can have been forgotten, or be the result of years long past, or even, as some claim, from past lives. The point is, however, that this knowledge is tapped, not by remembering it, but in receiving a sort of summary of its entire comments in regard to a particular question. As an example, let us say that a doctor examines a young girl, and has an irrational feeling that she has a rare blood condition. He cannot for the life of him think why, but nevertheless sends her for a blood test to check his feelings. Much to his surprise the condition is confirmed. This makes him really sit down to ponder how he knew; and after a great deal of searching he discovers the reason. In college he had read a novel mentioning a strange mark on a man’s body, which turned out to be a symptom of a blood disease. Later, in medical school, he noticed in passing the colour of a person’s eyes with a blood condition. Both incidents were lost to consciousness, but his intuition signals the essence of his knowledge by making him ‘feel’ uneasy about the girl’s condition, and irrationally (i.e. without knowing for what reason) suspect a blood disease.

That is an imaginary example, but there are plenty of real life ones. Seventy years ago, Morgan Robertson wrote a book called Futility. Robertson had been a seaman, and also had an inventive ability, having invented an improved type of periscope. The book he wrote was about a ship named ‘The Titan’. This had a displacement of 70,000 tons, 800 ft long, had triple screw propulsion, speed of 24 to 25 knots, was designed to carry 3,000 people, and had only a few lifeboats. In the book the Titan hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and went down.

To understand what I mean about intuition, I have only to explain that the ‘Titanic’ had a displacement of 66,000 tons, and was 852.5 ft long. Like the ‘Titan’, it also had triple screw, speed of 24 to 25 knots, carried 3,000 people and had few lifeboats. It too sunk in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg.

Heinrich Schliemann not only believed his irrational feelings, he did something about them. The son of a poor German clergyman, he educated himself, worked his way into a monied business; then, at a time when all the world scoffed, he set out to discover the mythical city of Troy. Later, he unearthed one of the richest treasures in the world at the Mycenaean Palace in Greece. All this from believing his inner feelings about the ‘fairy stories’ of Troy and King Midas. Schliemann himself says it was due to a past life in ancient times, and his irrational feelings were memories from that time he could not explain with present facts. Whether we believe this or not, his intuition, from whatever source, proved correct.

The prophesies of H. G. Wells also stand in a similar light. Working from his knowledge of his day, he spoke of such things as an atomic war, aerial fighting craft, armoured tanks, air conditioning, intercontinental air travel and television. In a similar vein, as a great devourer of scientific information, Jules Verne prophesied many of the important scientific discoveries and applications that were to follow. One of the most interesting of these amazing intuitive insights into facts is displayed by Jonathan Swift in Gulliver’s Travels. Written in 1726, the fictional Laputian scientists discover that the Planet Mars has two moons, and one of these travels around the planet twice as fast as the other. It was only in 1877, that Asaph Hall, an American scientist, was able to confirm the truth of this remarkable statement. How Swift came by this information is unknown.

Another interesting case is that of Herr Scherman. As an infant In the nursery he started collecting envelopes because of the various handwritings displayed on them. From then on his consuming passion was a study and analysis of handwriting. As his knowledge of this subject grew, his ability to determine who wrote a particular sentence became more than just a reasoned conclusion; it became intuitive. Cornelius Tabor, a newspaper man who wrote of Scherman’s work with the police in crime investigation, said, ‘I was introduced to him (Scherman) by Dr E.K. I showed him an envelope addressed by a lady he certainly did not know. He glanced at it briefly and then set to work. He described in minute detail the lady’s appearance, her figure, the colour of her hair, her features and suddenly it seemed that she came to life in front of me – he imitated her manner of speech. He seemed to know everything of her character. He told me her life story as if he had suddenly become a part of her very existence.’ (From – My Occult Diary – Rider.) See Intuition – Using It

What has all this got to do with dreams? They are simply used as instances of the unusual knowledge, foresight, inventiveness, and powers of insight the human mind can exhibit, especially in its intuitive side. They are but a dewdrop in the sea of examples that could be given, but as long as they bring home one point, they are enough. The point being, that any thoroughgoing dream researcher will never discard ideas presented, just because they do not fit his or her present opinions. We are always enlarging our facts to fit increased human knowledge and experience. Let us not then cast away an idea because it will not fit the smallness of our conceptions, or because it seems ridiculous or irrational. Neither let us believe it without testing it. Once more, the balanced way.

If we approach the dream with an open mind, an involvement in our question, and the willingness to be educated, we are certainly on the right tracks. If we add to this the constant interest and enthusiasm in our subject that men like Scherman have shown, then we bring to the dream an ever widening sphere of experience and knowledge through which it can express itself.

It has to be pointed out, however, that the past ‘knowledge and experience’ explanation of intuition in dreams and waking does not fully account for it. Scherman’s abilities, for one, do not entirely fit into this. If we read the lives of Andrew Jackson Davis, or Edgar Cayce – Man of Miracles – Neville Spearman, we shall soon see this. A study of their lives does show one interesting fact that furthers our knowledge of dream research. To state it briefly, the question asked, and how it is asked, has enormous influence on the answer received.

This has already been hinted at when mention was made of Dr George Washington Carver and his discoveries. When studying Edgar Cayce’s life, we find that several of the important aspects of his intuitive knowledge were not displayed until someone asked him the right questions. For instance, Cayce eventually began to give personal information on people’s latent capabilities, talents and problems, but this did not begin until a man named Lammers asked him questions on subjects he had not considered before, and so had never bothered to ask himself about.

I once made the experiment of asking a young man of very unphilosophical nature, a series of questions, rather like the Socratic method. Within fifteen minutes, as the questions awoke a realisation of his own experiences, he was talking pure philosophy, but he could not repeat this alone, without the questions.

The issues that arise from this are probably not of importance to the average person interested in dreams, but for the serious investigator they pose a very real problem; for one may have certain information that cannot be illicited because we do not know what questions to ask, or how to ask it. While this may seem of little importance at present, with very little stretch of imagination, a time can be foreseen when the present scientific method will attempt to incorporate the intuitive type of research into its sphere. Then, those found capable of dreaming or intuiting answers, will be as much a part of a research establishment as laboratory workers are today. Therefore, the framing of the question will be a serious undertaking. Basically, it has to elicit a response that remains understandable, but is not bound by preconceptions and already known facts. It must be more in the line of ‘What do I need to know ? ‘H)r ‘What is best to consider?’ rather than a too pointed question arising from already held opinions. In this way we may discover that another intelligence other than our conscious self is working within us, and we can make contact. Of this, Shane Miller tells the amusing story of the little boy who took a pole to measure the depth of the pool at the bottom of the garden. Each day he measured it, and each day it seemed to show a different depth. He pondered on this, and one day found the thrilling answer. There is Someone, or Something, at the bottom of the pool, moving the stick up and down. The boy realises he is not alone!

Working along similar lines, Professor James Bonner of the California Institute of Technology tried to analyse scientific creativeness. He questioned a number of researchers and scientists about intuitive knowledge gained in their work. He then set down his findings as follows:

(1) Define the question. This may itself be a creative act, since to recognise a question that has not been asked before may take great creativity.

(2) Stuff with facts. Once the question has been defined the potential scientific creator must have all the information he can get. He may have to do some experiments; he reads the literature, he gets together all the information that he can imagine bears upon the subject.

(3) Wait. The scientist may mull the facts over; he may worry; but in principle what he has to do now is wait.

(4) A solution pops out. Perhaps many solutions pop out. Often solutions emerge when one is half asleep, or perhaps during a day dream.

(5) Assess the solution. The scientist must now ask himself whether his new creative idea is a useful one or not. Is it good or bad? Does it unify everything that is present to be unified?

Getting down to methods, these should now be reasonably clear to understand. Having worked and worried over the problem, having looked to see what other people have said about it, or what other people have done along similar lines, we now approach the bed, but before actually climbing in, it is best to sit awhile, and consciously go over what you have thought, what you plan, what you hope, concerning the question. Cover the doubts, ideas, difficulties. Try to pierce the veil that hides the answer. If it is a personal problem ask ‘What shall I do? What is the best course of action? Or, how should it be approached ?’ If the question relates to work we plan to do, such as starting a business, investing in a venture, or beginning some undertaking; run through the plans, and ask, ‘Have I missed anything? Are there factors I have not considered? Is this for my best interests? Any suggestions?’ Then drop thought of the subject, get into bed, and go to sleep. When you wake, whatever the time if you remember a dream whether it seems like an answer or not, set it down lest it be forgotten. If you wake and cannot remember any dreams, lie quietly for a while, trying to remember as explained earlier, and ‘Good Luck!’

SOURCES OF DREAMS

If one is sincerely attempting to use dreams as a way of research, one has to realise that dreams may arise from a variety of sources. This has already been mentioned, but what has been said is perhaps not detailed enough if we want to probe deeply. At the very outset of trying to give further information, however, it has to be admitted that the following statements are not made dogmatically. Very little is known about the sources of dreams. The inner consciousness has not been explored and charted sufficiently to make it common territory. For this reason I have collected several explanations of the main aspects of man’s being. Whether these descriptions are true or adequate has to be left to each person’s experience. At least it is hoped they are helpful.

In giving the various theories concerning the dream, we have seen that one of the commonest is that they rise from subtle physical sensations. In some cases, disease has been indicated by dreams some time prior to its appearance outwardly. While A. J. Davis goes into some detail as to descriptions of dreams and their possible sources in the bodily functions, he also says. ‘There are numerous spiritual phenomena connected with the state of sleep.’ That is, he defines levels of consciousness. He says that man’s being is the harmonious relationship of seven principles. If we think of dreams once more as the instruments panel, then just as the oil gauge of a car connects with the oil pump, and the thermometer with the Water, so dreams can be indicators of these seven modes of being. Davis lists these as the ANATOMICAL, which relates to the body as matter, and its form; the PHYSIOLOGICAL, which relates to the function of the form; the MECHANICAL, which is the energy or force behind the function or form in matter, and can be termed movement; the CHEMICAL, which is decomposition of form and substance, as in catabolism; the ELECTRICAL, which expresses as combination, or anabolism, or the combination of simple chemical or organic substances into more complex ones; the MAGNETICAL, which is the law of harmony allowing the other principles to relate together harmoniously; the SPIRITUAL, or that which relates to attenuation, or growth and development of more extended aspects, or that relates to all other manifestation. Therefore, a dream could arise from any of these departments of ourselves.

Davis, like many other philosophers, gives the over all forces within man as LOVE, WISDOM and WILL. Others express it as Love, Wisdom and Power. As general classifications these include many seemingly separate functions and capabilities of the human being. They may be better understood if we say that Love covers such diverse activities as physical attraction of the opposite sexes; emotional attraction and harmony between any sex or age group; the grouping together of cells and chemical substances in the body seemingly opposite or antagonistic. In fact the law of love seems to be the bringing together and stabilising of opposites or conflicting factions, whether physically, emotionally, energetically or mentally. Similar general rules apply to the other two classifications. Love may unite, but Wisdom gathers experience, looks for causes, understands direction. Power on the other hand relates to all expressions of energy, of will, of force. In human affairs we may see a loving person who lacks wisdom or power to understand and direct their love; or a forceful person may lack love and wisdom and so be destructive and hurtful. Or a wise person may lack forcefulness and love, and so be a dry, fruitless intellectual; and so on with the other combinations.

Dreams can be concerned with LOVE in its various aspects. Here, perhaps the Freudian type of interpretation concerns itself most with relationships of passion and love. Alder is an excellent example of one who concentrated on dealing with the Power aspect of dreams. His life was spent helping people to direct their ‘will to power’ their ambitions and energies. Without stretching our imagination too much, we can say Jung represents the study of dreams of WISDOM. Such dreams would deal with the desire to understand, to clarify awareness of self, and relationship to life, with its attendant unravelling of the beauty and wisdom of our own and other cultures.

As many other investigators of man’s being have listed seven main principles, perhaps I can summarise these to make them more understandable. For the information locked in Davis’ remarks may lose its helpfulness without a little further commentary; and philosophical systems as varied as Hindu, Buddhist, Hebrew, Alchemical, Christian, Agnostic and Anthroposophical, have all listed these seven levels. As these could naturally take volumes to explain in detail, an analogy will be used to summarise them. In doing this, the failings of using such a symbol and imaginative method must be forgiven. To start with we have to imagine the sperm and ovum as a seed, planted in the fertile soil of the womb. This seed holds in it a great deal of potential, but it is at present all unexpressed.

MATTER OR PHYSICAL BODY

When we plant this human seed let us think of it as a little piece of earth, of matter, only. If we literally planted a piece of earth in a human womb, nothing would happen as far as growth was concerned. In this sense matter represents just a set of ‘materials’. Just as we may use bricks or clay, planks of wood, nails of iron, windows of glass to build a house, so the seed is likewise a collection of materials, which in themselves are inert. This is Davis’ ‘Anatomical’.

FORMATIVE

When we plant our seed under the right circumstances, however, it already has form, and continues to express itself in forming a developing body. Therefore, one of the things latent in the seed was a sort of formative power or process. This same organic formative power, that takes hold of inert matter and shapes it, is one of the first processes of evolution. We see it at work in forming the minerals of our Earth, and the crystals. This is the first of its potentials the seed can express. At its lowest level this formative power is something like the growth of a crystal, of filings shaping themselves round a magnet. At its highest phase it becomes movement such as plants describe in growth. This is Davis’ ‘Physiological’.

SENTIENCY

In the growth of our seed, further levels of potential can express themselves as the lower stage prepares the ground. The plant cannot use sunlight until the leaves are unfolded. So, sentiency cannot express until a sensitive vehicle is formed. In plants, this sentiency can be seen in the growing toward light, or closing of flowers at night. Without this sentiency or sensitivity, one would never be aware of physical or sensual impressions. Naturally, with the development of sentiency, it changes the direction of effort of the previous processes. In this way a plant directs the formative processes to grow to the light, through its sensitiveness to light. At its lowest level this is a chemical and organic response to impacts from within and outside itself. At its highest level it becomes emotion or feelings. This is Davis’ ‘Mechanical’.

PERCEPTION

Just as sentiency could not manifest without form, neither could perception without feeling. Perception means an awareness of sensations. It means the ability to add two and two together. When a dog sits too near the fire and burns himself, he learns to avoid such close contact again. The dog has associated the sensation of burning with the image of the fire. In man, such perceptions become more and more complex. A man can take the ideas of pain and fire as abstractions, and add the idea of prevention, thus producing a fire guard. This is thought. At its lowest level, perception is memory to avoid pain, or direct activities. At its highest level it becomes constructive thought, which has emerged out of feeling. This is Davis’ ‘Chemical’.

KNOWLEDGE

Out of thinking develops knowledge. When we experience a feeling such as pleasure, it is ours alone. It cannot be handed from person to person. It can be stimulated in others, but not given. But Knowledge goes beyond the individual. At this stage a man can look at life and discover that if corn is planted, a harvest may later be reaped. This realisation can be passed on. At its lowest level it is learned response. At its highest level a collection of conscious realisations about life. This is Davis’ ‘Electrical’.

INSIGHT

This level is often listed as intuition, but with careful thought we see that many creatures possess intuition, but it takes a man of a high calibre to possess insight. Insight is the result of a high level of consciousness, a wide knowledge, plus the faculty of intuition. Intuition is the power that takes hold of experience and facts, and puts them into new orders, fresh insight. Intuition reveals deeper meaning in already known subjects of knowledge, producing insight.

Or should we say, insight is the result of conscious knowledge plus intuition. Intuition minus high conscious awareness produces strange knowledge, unexplainable reaction, but it does not produce insight. So here we have consciousness and its contents, Opening itself to the unconscious, resulting in insight, the link between the two worlds of seen and unseen, manifest and potential. This is Davis’ ‘Magnetical’.

SPIRIT

This is the antipode to matter. Matter is the receptive and resourceful womb that spirit enters, and begins to manifest its potentials by using the materials matter presents. A later description will clarify this.

This may all seem very confusing, and, in fact, it is. Such lists of attributes are only a structure which human beings use to hang their understanding upon; but no such structure will stand up to vigorous investigation, and so secondary or alternative structures are built such as the Love, Wisdom and Power explanation. Some thinkers break man’s complicated being into a simpler symbol and instead of seven levels, they list three. This is not to say that they thereby miss out parts given by the others; they put them all together instead. The results, however, seem a lot more understandable. In this category we have the thoughts and investigations of such men as Rudolph Steiner, Edgar Cayce and Spencer Lewis. Steiner calls those three levels Body, Soul and Spirit, and Cayce the Conscious, Unconscious and Superconscious, or sometimes Body, Soul and Spirit as Steiner. Spencer Lewis expressed them as Physical, Psychic and Cosmic. Although these three men had their own individual way of describing these levels according to their own genius, I will attempt to summarise what they said.

PHYSICAL OR BODY

We are all familiar with this. We have to recognise that in this category it is mentioned as the body minus consciousness, as consciousness belongs to another level. Under this classification of Body we have inanimate, unfeeling matter. It represents those parts of our nature that by themselves are inert, without energy, without sensation or feeling, like a dead body. Forces are certainly at work in such a body, such as disintegration, breakdown. This level represents the power of Inertia, of Limitation, of Unconsciousness. These are stressed because they have a power in their own right, and if we do not understand them, we may miss seeing their expression in dreams. If we take the analogy of a stream, using the water as movement or energy, and the stream bed as matter or inertia, we see that matter directs the expression of energy, but in its turn, energy shapes and gives form to matter. Another example is an electric motor, which is itself inert matter, but which directs the expression of energy. So the elements, form and physiology of the body direct the expression of the energy. In turn the energy gives form and function to the body, for at death, when the energy is no longer active, the form disintegrates, and the function ceases.

PSYCHIC OR SOUL

Our psychic life, or soul life, is the world of our sensations, emotions, thoughts. It is the world of our individual consciousness and intelligence. The body cannot feel or sense or know without this soul life. Just as the heat from an electric fire is the combination, or result, of electricity and the inert instruments, so this soul life is the result of a combination between spirit and body, energy and matter. At one extreme of soul life we have alert, concentrated consciousness, with a sense of individuality and self awareness. At the other extreme we have the subconscious, which is a wider consciousness going beyond our sense of being cut off, individual, and touches the next level of being, the Spirit. Cayce calls the soul, the sense of individual activity and decision, the memory of one’s personal activities.

The energy that gave life to man is universal, but if consciousness remained at that level, no individual realisation could take place. Thus the soul is the record and the experience of the individual outside a consciousness of the universal.

This level includes all the levels of a man’s individual mind, ranging from sensual impressions, thought and emotion, memory, and subconscious activities. It is called the psychic because it is the realm that is neither formless as is the spirit, nor bound to form as is the body. Soul experience is a middle way between the extremes, and a dream is a weaving together of formless energies with images to make them understandable. It links the limitation and unconsciousness of the body on the one hand, with all its separateness with the infinite extensions and possibilities of spirit on the other. So man, in his dream life, can dwell in the aloneness of his body, or contact all beings through the agency of his life force.

SPIRIT OR COSMIC

This is that energy which is the very opposite of matter. In itself it represents the infinite consciousness, movement, knowledge, creativity and energy. This is the male aspect of self, while the body is its mate or wife, which it enters and brings forth the child of self consciousness. As consciousness in the body is a mixture of spirit and matter, it likewise blends the two, that is, it has limited awareness. But it can either associate itself with the body, when it takes on more and more of the physical characteristics, such as inertia, unfeelingness and limited knowledge. Or it can associate itself with its energy, which leads to expanded awareness, greater energy and creativeness. The spirit is man’s sense of union or identity with his source. This level of man’s being is the synthesis of all experience. it holds within it the memory of all men, all creatures, all activity, while man’s soul is the record of his doings only. But as the soul is an extension of the spirit, it can partake of the greater wisdom, the greater experience by a harkening to that part of itself instead of only bodily experience, and yet still maintain its individuality, just as a man may learn from others yet apply it differently.

To summarise this description of man’s being in connection with dreams, they may arise from body, soul or spirit. If they arise from body they will deal with the health, or workings, or intricate wisdom that its form portrays due to it being a reflection of spirit in matter. If they arise from the soul, they will deal with the range of human feelings, relationships, fears, individual growth, past memories, desires, and aspects of the individual’s life. If they arise from the spirit, they will express elements beyond the limited desires, aims and knowledge of the individual. Such dreams may carry information about other people, about the meaning of life, or be of universal appeal. People living or dead may be dealt with in a meaningful and usually super logical way. For the dead are only dead in body. The memory, the spirit, of their whole experience is caught in the memory of the Cosmic. Therefore, not only our own past may come to us in a dream, but also the past and experience of the long dead may arise in us, if it is connected with our present life in some way.

One other definition of man’s experience of himself may find a useful place here. This is Jung’s description of man’s four functions.

These he called SENSATION – FEELING – THINKING – INTUITION. These are the aspects of man’s soul life as depicted above. In saying this I am not trying to confuse Jung’s ideas with those of other people. I am merely trying to give a reasonably understandable presentation of man’s being that includes the materialistic and the mystical, the practical and the psychological. Therefore, to define the four functions, We can say that in the function of SENSATION, man’s soul life is directed towards the body. Jung explained that each person had dependence on one main function. Thus a person whose consciousness mainly existed in their physical sensations could be listed under this first function. These are people who are keenly aware of the outside world, and are at home in their physical sensations.

As for the FEELING function, this refers to people Who are ‘at home’ in their emotions and inner feelings. They can cope with relationships on the emotional level easily and constructively, although they, like the others, may be quite lost outside their own sphere.

The THINKING function refers to the man or woman ‘at home’ in their ideas, plans, opinions and the world of thought.

The INTUITIVE function person has the ability to see beyond the rational, beyond the things portrayed by thought, feeling or senses. He arrives at truths that seem beyond the ken of those using the other functions.

If four such typical people walked down a street together, we might say that the one with Sensation as his leading function would notice the houses, their colours and changes made since his last visit. The Feeling person would be aware of the emotions stimulated by the surroundings and relationship with the people. The Thinking person would perhaps be little aware of the street at all, but be following a line of thought. While the Intuitive might know from his perceptions, much of what the others are thinking or feeling.

So dreams may be expressions of some aspect of these functions in our life. Naturally, each of us has the other functions, although we live mostly in one. As these have to some extent been explained under other headings, I have done no more than mention them.

Inadequate as it is, it is hoped that these sketchy outlines of the various schools of thought will at least direct attention towards a constructively analytical direction, For sometimes, even hints help us to unravel a difficult dream.

The next chapter will give examples of dreams from these various sources.

Link To Chapters – Link to Chapter Twelve